Assemblymember

HAKEEM
JEFFRIES

Community Report

FALL 2009

Assemblymember Jeffries has worked diligently to ensure that people in our community are not displaced in the midst of the affordable housing crisis that has ravaged central Brooklyn. As part of this effort he recently announced, in partnership with Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN) and the NYS United Court System, a new pilot program called “Lawyer for a Day.” Initially, this program will be available to housing court litigants from the Crown Heights and Clinton Hill neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

An overwhelming majority of working and moderate income residents are forced to address housing court issues without legal representation because they cannot afford an attorney. The Lawyer for a Day program, also known as “LaunchPad for Justice,” will provide legal representation to litigants who would otherwise be unrepresented in non-payment housing court proceedings. The program will give residents from the community a better opportunity to keep their apartments and fight frivolous legal action by landlords. If it proves successful, Assemblymember Jeffries will work to expand its availability to the Prospect Heights, Fort Greene and Bedford Stuyvesant, neighborhoods he also represents.

Jeffries Combats High Unemployment in Central Brooklyn

Assemblymember Jeffries announces Section 3 initiative

November 12 Community Job Fair

On November 12 Assemblymember Jeffries, along with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and his colleagues in government, sponsored a Career and Job Fair at the Ingersoll Community Center. Potential employers from more than twenty-five companies were present at the fair, including the Marriott Hotel, National Grid, Metro PCS and the Brooklyn Hospital Center. Hundreds of public housing and community residents attended the highly successful event.

Many residents in our community are unemployed and desperately in need of work. Assemblymember Jeffries has worked hard to encourage NYCHA to comply with a federal law that would help economically revitalize our community. Whenever the federal government provides capital funding for construction and renovation, Section 3 of the 1968 Housing and Urban Development Act requires NYCHA to set aside thirty percent of the jobs, training and contract opportunities for public housing and local residents.

Over the years, NYCHA has failed to meet its Section 3 obligations. This failure can no longer be tolerated. Recently, the federal government allocated $423 million in stimulus money for public housing in New York City, and NYCHA has agreed to spend more than $100 million in our community. Assemblymember Jeffries strongly believes that this money must be used to create employment and business opportunities for neighborhood residents. To this end, he met with the new NYCHA chairperson, John Rhea, and pressed him to meet the agency’s Section 3 obligations to create jobs for neighborhood residents. Mr. Rhea agreed, and the November 12 Job Fair is a substantial first step in that direction.

The effort by Assemblymember Jeffries to transform vacant luxury condominiums into affordable homes for working families, moderate income residents and senior citizens continues to gain momentum. In recent months, the Assemblymember has met with officials at all levels of government, including at the White House, to build support for the Project Reclaim initiative.

He continues to work closely with Priscilla Almodovar, Chief Executive Officer of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA). At the request of Assemblymember Jeffries, AHC has set aside five million dollars to help 125 potential homebuyers purchase affordable apartments in empty luxury condominium buildings. The funds will be divided into $40,000 grants to help subsidize home ownership.

Assemblymember Jeffries also recently met with New York State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli and the Superintendent of Banks, Richard Neiman. In both meetings, Jeffries expressed the view that banks in New York State had an obligation to create affordable housing opportunities by circulating taxpayer dollars back into the economy. Many of these banks, after all, were recipients of $700 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, and would not be financially viable without the generosity of the taxpayer. Comptroller Dinapoli and Superintendent Neiman both agreed to support the Project Reclaim initiative and Assemblymember Jeffries will continue to fight for its implementation.

On Saturday, July 11, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Shem Walker was fatally shot and killed by an undercover NYPD officer in Clinton Hill. The incident transpired when Mr. Walker, 49, asked an undercover officer who was sitting on his mother’s stoop without permission to leave the property. The undercover officer apparently refused, and a confrontation ensued. As a result, Mr. Walker, an unarmed innocent man died.

Assemblymember Jeffries and local community leaders immediately demanded a thorough and independent investigation. In subsequent weeks, he met with Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to reiterate his call for justice. Assemblymember Jeffries, joined by spiritual leaders from throughout the community, also held a prayer vigil in front of the Walker residence on July 19 to remember the life of Shem Walker and pray for the family he left behind.

In addition, Assemblymember Jeffries helped sponsor, along with Fort Greene Peace and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), a Remember Shem Walker Community Forum at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church on September 23. At the forum, Assemblymember Jeffries called for enhanced police training on the use of deadly force, an end to racial profiling of young black and Latino men and a permanent, independent state prosecutor to investigate police brutality. When the legislature reconvenes in January, he will continue to fight for these reforms in Albany.

Jeffries Fights Atlantic Men’s Shelter Expansion

The Department of Homeless Services proposal is wrong for the Crown Heights community, wrong for Brooklyn, and wrong for the homeless in New York City.

Assemblymember Jeffries continues to oppose a proposal by the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) that would designate the Bedford Atlantic Armory an intake center and dramatically expand the number of homeless men it serves. The DHS proposal is wrong for the Crown Heights community, wrong for Brooklyn and wrong for the homeless in New York City.

The Bedford Atlantic homeless shelter is a fragile institution historically plagued with crime, overcrowding and severe staff shortages. Residents have long complained about their experiences at the facility and the shelter has created quality of life problems for the surrounding neighborhood. It is also alarming that the city plans to close or modify the current intake center at Bellevue, since approximately 60% of the street homelessness is in Manhattan. If this plan is approved, many homeless men will not be able to get access to the shelter system.

The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) must approve the plan before it can be implemented. In that regard, Assemblymember Jeffries and his state colleagues have met with David Hansell, the former Commissioner of OTDA, and corresponded with the acting Commissioner to urge rejection of the Bedford Atlantic shelter expansion. These efforts have been successful to date and Assemblymember Jeffries will continue to fight this wrongheaded plan that will hurt our quality of life.

For the third consecutive summer, Assemblymember Jeffries took his office to various street corners in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant and Prospect Heights to hold evening office hours. Due to work obligations, constituents often are not able to meet with the Assemblymember in his district office and therefore might otherwise miss the opportunity to have their issues addressed. That is why he takes his office to the street. After spending a significant part of the first six months of the year in

Albany for the legislative session, his subway office hours provide Assemblymember Jeffries with the opportunity to intimately connect with his constituents.

Jeffries and his staff spent Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in July and August meeting with constituents on their way home. These outdoor meetings give the community the opportunity to voice their concerns and discuss the pressing matters in our neighborhoods. As in previous years, Assemblymember Jeffries personally listened to each constituent problem and worked on finding a resolution.

Affordable housing, mass transportation and lack of employment opportunities were some of the recurring issues throughout the summer. In response to these concerns, Assemblymember Jeffries held a free legal housing clinic in September and a community job fair in November. He also continues to engage the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the NYC Department of Transportation to expand public transportation options for the community. The questions, comments and issues discussed during his outdoor office hours continue to play an integral role in shaping the Assemblymember’s legislative agenda and he looks forward to going back out on the street next summer.